113th Plenary Session of International Labour Conference

Why in News

The 113th Plenary Session of International Labour Conference was held in Geneva (Switzerland) between 2 June to 13 June 2025.

About International Labour Conference (ILC)

• Introduction: It is the highest policy making body of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
• Conference: It is held every year in Geneva (Switzerland) and is also called the 'Parliament of Labour'.
• First Conference: It was held in Washington in the year 1919.
  • Narayan Malhar Joshi participated from India as a representative of laborers.
    • N.M. Joshi (5 June 1879 - 30 May 1955) was an Indian trade union leader and a follower of Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
• Objectives
  • Review and formulation of norms relating to labour at the global level.
  • Evaluate labour policies of member countries.
  • Create new international labour standards, such as conventions and recommendations.
  • Discuss global labour issues such as workers’ rights, dignity of work, employment, wages, social security, etc.
• Voting Rights: Each member state is represented by a delegation composed of two government representatives, one employer representative, one labour representative. They all have individual voting rights and all votes are equal.

ILC 113th Plenary Session

• Event: 2 June to 13 June 2025 in Geneva (Switzerland)
• Participating Members: Government, employer and worker representatives from all 187 Member States
• Agenda: ‘Possible new international standards on protection of workers against biological hazards in the working environment, decent work in the platform economy and innovative approaches to promote transition from informal to formal economy’

India’s Representation

India was represented by Union Minister of Labour and Employment Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya at this conference.

Key Points of Statement

• India’s unemployment rate has declined from 6% in the year 2017 to 3.2% in 2024.
• More than 7.5 crore jobs were created in the formal sector during the last seven years.
• National Career Service (NCS) portal is being used to collect global job demands and facilitate international labour mobility.
• More than 30 crore unorganized workers are registered on the e-Shram portal, ensuring targeted benefits and social protection.
• India’s social security coverage has increased from 24.4% in 2019 to 64.3% in 2025.
• Today, about 940 million people in India have some form of social security coverage.
  • India is the first country globally to update social security coverage data for the year 2025 in the ‘ILOSTAT’ database, thereby reinforcing its leadership position in digital governance and transparency in welfare systems.
• India advocates the critical need to protect workers, but also cautions against overly broad definitions in biological hazards tools that extend beyond the workplace.
• India recommends a risk-based, layered strategy that strikes a balance between worker safety and practicality.
• India urges to take into account and accommodate diversities across different countries while setting global standards.